The Toyman's Castle: Superman's rogues tend to be dismissed as inferior to Batman's because many of them are simply overweight or balding plainclothes crooks. In this story, The Toyman really is a sinister figure with no need for the distasteful modern spin that made him a child abductor and abuser. When I daydreamed a few years ago about updating Superman for the current market, I envisaged the Toyman as an unhinged Willy Wonka figure (not unlike Johnny Depp's fey and unsettling iteration)- a Disney of Death. This story, with its storybook castle and medieval deathtrap for Lois, captures that menace. I haven't read many Superman stories from the Forties: they tend to be fairly simple crime-busting yarns. But this one had something of the spirit of the Fleischer cartoons.
The Heat is on for Captain Cold: this Flash story, with its typical Infantino sleek skylines and romantic plot is from late Sixty-Three (and of course is contemporary with the death of JFK and the debut of Doctor Who). Captain Cold seems to have been one of the most popular members of Flash's Rogues Gallery and his arctic-explorer- themed outfit is certainly a memorable visual. What differentiates him from the Icicle in the 40s and Mr. Freeze in the mid-to-late 60s is his personality. He's a masher, a hound, a skirt chaser. Heat Wave is duller than dull, however: a circus fire-eater in a bland welding suit. He makes his debut here as a brief ally then romantic rival of the Captain. In this story, Snart has shifted his obsession with Miss Twist (See the "All-Flash" entry on Materioptikon) to a tv peronality called Dream Girl- no relation to the Legion's platinum blonde narcoleptic.
The self-styled Temperature Twins were recently part of the group responsible for the brutal ( but fortunately short-lived) of Bart-Flash: yet another example of DC's Didio-tic and ugly penchant for "realism".
The Bird Sayings Crimes: The Penguin is another fat little man without superpowers. But thanks to the incomparable Burgess Meredith, I always think of him as the sharper brain when compared to the Joker. I also prefer him to Danny DeVito's freakish misfit. Here, the Man of 1000 Umbrellas devises crimes based on bird mottos, stealing the Riddler's schtick at the same time (although the Riddler is such small fry in 1952 that it's never mentioned.)
Interplanetary Voyages: exhibit A
I've read a number of 50s Batman stories recently and contrary to popular belief, they tend to be neat little crime stories rather than interplanetary voyages. This one is no exception.
I only found out tonight that the noir-ish Animated Series Penguin in the 90s was voiced by Paul Williams, of Bugsy Malone and "Rainbow Connection" fame!
It's strange to think that this issue came out at the same time as these comics and the villains would probably have been considered campy.
My very first issues of Forever People and New Gods. I was completely hooked by these psychedelic intruders from the Mighty Marvel Universe.
Since all three stories were new to me, I enjoyed this issue more than the previous Wanted DC Special. Next time, we'll look at the launch of Wanted as a regular series.
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